Teaching assistant (22) faces life over attack that killed his unborn child

Malorie Bantala outside the Old Bailey in London, as her ex-boyfriend Kevin Wilson, 22, and a 17-year-old accomplice have been found guilty of killing her unborn baby in a savage attack. Credit: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

She was driven by police to Kings College Hospital where she was treated for life-threatening internal bleeding.

As well as losing six litres of blood, she had broken two fingers in the hand she had used to try to shield her child.

The court heard how Miss Bantala had been in an on-off relationship with Wilson and had turned to him for comfort after the death of a nephew from sickle-cell anaemia.

Miss Bantala decided to keep the baby, despite Wilson's repeated attempts to persuade her to have an abortion because he was not ready for fatherhood.

Later, he became angry, called her a "Jezzy" and tried to deny he was the father when she let slip to a mutual friend.

Wilson apologised for his behaviour as he told jurors: "When I look back on it now, I could have behaved much better."

By May, he said he had "moved on" with another girlfriend and got her pregnant too, although she did not have the baby.

But he denied the attack, claiming he had worked all day at Octavia House, a school for children with behavioural problems, then walked home for a "nap" before leaving the house after 8pm to buy a Mr Kipling cake in a nearby Tesco.

Wilson was arrested the day after the assault while his accomplice was picked up weeks later.

The 17-year-old, who refused to give evidence, told police he had been staying at his grandmother's house and denied even knowing Wilson.

The jury rejected Wilson's explanation and found both defendants guilty. The maximum sentence for the unusual offence of child destruction is life.

The jury was not told that the 17-year-old defendant had himself become a father in August and was said by his lawyer to be "very involved" with the child.

The youth has a string of previous convictions including a robbery during which a woman was punched.

In a victim impact statement, Miss Bantala told how she hated being referred to as the victim when the "real victim" was her beloved son Joel.

She wrote: "Joel never got to meet me properly, never know how much I love him.

"I will never get to see him smile, watch him get his first tooth or to take his first steps. "I will never get to watch him at university or see him graduate. I will never get to be the mother of the groom.

"I love my son so much words cannot describe it. The moment Joel was taken from me I lost everything."

She said she would have brought her son up to be "100 times the man Kevin would ever be".

Miss Bantala said she had nearly lost her womb as a result of the attack and she had been forced to "relive the worst day of my life" during the case.

Judge Mark Lucraft QC adjourned sentencing to a date to be fixed in February.

Malcolm McHaffie, CPS London Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor, said: "The incomprehensibly evil actions of these two defendants have cruelly snatched away the life of an unborn baby boy who was just weeks away from being brought into the world.

"I would like to thank the victim for her courage in giving evidence against her attackers in this heart-breaking case."